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INFINITISM 


OR A VIEW OF 

THE INFINITE 


BV IRVING WINSOR 


GREENVILLE, R. I. 


S » 3 


PRICE - - - $1.00 

Mailed to any address on receipt of price. 


Address all orders to Irving: Winsor, 

Olneyville Times Office, Olneyville Square, 
Providence, R. I. 

Copyright, 1917 by Irving Winsor—All Rights Reserved. 




6 80 


PS.—One dollar seems a large price for a small book, but I 
make this standing offer: Anyone thinking on religion 30 years, 
who will write the results in bookform, can have a dollar for the 
book from me at any time. 


-» i 

v* 

*V V 


s 

MAY -4 1917 


©Q.A480634 




Written Jan. 12th, 1916, by Irving Winsor. 


PREFACE. 

When a person in his whole life writes only 
one thing it is perhaps excusable on his part, and 
will be of interest to the reader to know some¬ 
thing of the writer. I was born Nov. 20th, 1859, 
in the town of Smithfield, Providence County, 
State of Rhode Island, United States of America. 

My ancestors were the early settlers of the 
State of Rhode Island. At least four or five of 
them were pastors of the First Baptist Church 
of Providence, R. I., the first church in the State 
and the first Baptist Church in America, previous 
to 1776. Their names are Roger Williams, Chad 
Brown, Rev. Samuel Winsor, 1st, and Rev. 
Samuel Winsor, 2nd. The place of my birth is 
about one and a half miles about north of north¬ 
east from Greenville. The farm had been owned 
by my grandfather, Andrew Winsor, and my 
father’s family moved from there to a farm 
called the Zibe Smith farm, about one-half mile 
north of Greenville, on the 4th anniversary of 
my birth. 

My mother died the 5th of June, 1867, when 
I was seven and a half years old. I was con¬ 
verted when seventeen or eighteen years of age, 
having made a profession in Providence when 
Moody was there holding meetings, and I soon 
united with the First Free Baptist Church of 
Smithfield during the pastorate of Rev. Arthur 
Given, who also baptized me. After one term of 
school at East Greenwich Academy, I began a 



IV 


regular classical course at New Hampton, N. H., 
where I was most of the time from 1879 to 1884, 
when I went to Bates Theological School, Lewis¬ 
ton, Me., in 1884 and graduated in 1889. 

Nov. 1st, 1889, I became State Missionary for 
the Minnesota Yearly Meeting of Free Baptists. 
This relation was discontinued Jan. 1st, 1890, 
when I became pastor of the church at Diamond 
Bluff, Wis. I was there a year or two, then went 
to Monticello, Wis., as pastor. I left there and 
went on a half section of new land in Clark 
County, Wis., near Neillsville, where I stayed 
several years. I next went to Delevan, Minn., 
where I stayed as pastor a few months. I came 
back to Rhode Island about 1900, where I have 
since resided, preaching some, farming some, and 
peddling almost exclusively for the last five or 
six years. 

The views I hold on religious subjects have 
been held in much the same form as I now write 
them, for several years. I did not intend to 
write them out for publication until I was sixty 
years old, I am admonished to write now rather 
than to wait longer. Some one might say that 
it is already too late, and I would agree with him 
if I were to think out and put in order the con¬ 
tents of Infinitism. But it is already formulated 
in my mind and has been practically as I now 
attempt to write it for several years, and al¬ 
though an impaired mind might not be able to 
originate and put in form these ideas, still one 
somewhat defective might nevertheless be suffi¬ 
ciently clear to write out what was originally 
thought out under more favorable circumstances. 

There are many features, some quite interest¬ 
ing, concerning the writing of this book, but as 


V 


brevity and precision is desired in the completed 
work so that it will be acceptable to the general 
reader, we will forego all further allusion to the 
circumstances. 




VI 


INTRODUCTION. 

As far as I know, all religious teaching of 
whatever name or nature runs back to some more 
or less ancient books, creeds, traditions, etc. 

Infinitism does not propose to be perfect and 
complete, for to begin and finish a complete sys¬ 
tem of religion would be asking too much of any 
one person. But I do believe it possible for even 
one mind which is free from prejudice and from 
the effects of previous instruction to so weigh 
the truth from all quarters as at least to form a 
self-satisfying belief. As the word Infinitism 
implies, it is open to amendment and criticism, to 
be added to and taken from, as time, knowledge, 
experience and thought may prove advisable. 

Infinitism takes into consideration all that we 
are able to comprehend and takes cognizance of 
all the teachings of Christianity as well as all 
other religions. Infinitism is offered for what it 
is worth. If its teachings are true, it will revolu¬ 
tionize beliefs and put religion, as it deserves to 
be, in the first place in the thoughts and lives of 
all. 

Infinitism has no argument or controversy 
with anything. It simply states its belief and 
leaves the reader to consider, and if he at once 
does not come to the same conclusion which I 
have reached after twenty or thirty years of 
thought and careful consideration, I have no 
fault to find. Every one at one time thought the 
earth flat and some still hold that view, 
but the arguments in favor of its being a globe 
were not readily received. In religion there has 
been no great change for two thousand years. 
Why stand still in this great essential? 


CHAPTER I. 


The Origin of Things. 

There must be some vehicle or medium in and 
through and by which any and all things operate. 

This necessitates the eternal existence of mat¬ 
ter in some form. 

The existence of matter necessitates some form 
or manner of existence. 

That this existence and manner of being is 
conformed to rule and law is necessary. 

Being a part and parcel of all matter and thus 
subject and in harmony with those laws, we 
naturally see and comprehend them to be good 
and proper. 

The highest development of matter as far as 
we are able to judge is man. 

And the highest development of man is the 
spiritual man born from above, or born again, as 
often stated. 

And that all this is a natural, systematic, or¬ 
derly development is the great Teaching of In- 
finitism. 


CHAPTER II. 

Nature of Teachings. 

Human observation aided by the instruments 
of man’s invention appear to show that matter is 
practically all of one nature and made up of the 
same elements, whether near by and capable of 
being handled and analyzed, or whether existing 
at the remotest bounds of our limits of observa¬ 
tion. That matter exists in some parts of the 
universe in far different conditions than in other 


2 


parts leads us to the conclusion that matter 
changes conditions, and such changes are pro¬ 
gressive at all times. 

All of these laws are not perhaps compre¬ 
hended, but those of gravity, attraction, etc., are 
easily discerned. That these things tend toward 
an ultimate good is a proof not so much of an 
overruling power as to universal tendency of afl 
things to conform to the great underlying tend¬ 
ency and nature of things. 

From what we call the lower has developed 
the higher forms of existence. 

It is evident man with his intelligence is the 
highest development known to us. It would ap¬ 
pear that Jesus Christ was perhaps the first per¬ 
son who entered into the highest development up 
to his time, but we do believe that he was per¬ 
fectly natural in his development and growth. 

What was true in Christ’s case as an individual 
became true generally on the day of Pentecost, 
and what was true then has always developed 
when man has lived for right and righteousness 
according to his best impressions. 

All of this is a natural development without 
supernatural influences and may be experienced 
by any one who will live up to his best convic¬ 
tions of duty and justice. 

(I wrote to this place Jan. 12th, 1916.) 

Infinitism arrives at the same conclusion, and 
the ultimate results are the same as far as the 
facts of the case are concerned, as in the most 
advanced experiences in Christianity. But they 
are reached by a direct route and without resort 
to the introduction of the supernatural, miracles, 
or the work of imagination, which have held so 
important a place in religion up to the present 
time. There are those even at this late date that 


3 


believe that a religion without the supernatural 
could not be believed; whereas I believe that it 
is high time that we have a religion where facts 
rather than fancies predominate. 

The Bible story of creation is all right for one 
way of accounting for the origin of things, and 
has been believed by many implicitly, and con¬ 
sidering its ancient origin is very good; but it is 
not to be believed for several reasons, 
First, because it takes for granted the existence of 
a supreme being capable of speaking and a thing 
coming into existence out of nothing. Second, 
the six days’ work of creation are incredible. 
Third, the making of woman out of Adam’s rib 
is incredible. In contrast with these Infinitism 
teaches the existence of matter as eternal, and 
when we can see at the same time all degrees of 
the change from the clouds in the milky way 
down to the solid earth on which we walk, we 
do have a clue to the origin of things before our 
eyes. But, be the origin as it may, the fact of 
existence and things as they are, are to be taken 
into account; and here is where Infinitism com¬ 
pares favorably with anything previously known. 

Infinitism provides ample time for the 
processes and changes which appear slow, but 
when eternity is allowed, these great changes are 
easily accomplished. Remains of prehistoric ani¬ 
mals, plants, etc., compared with those existant 
to-day reveal changes and development sug¬ 
gestive of changes, which might account for the 
development of all things as they are out of 
some primitive and original substance which of 
necessity is eternal. 

That this original substance had in it originally 
the elements from which all existant things were 
produced is easily comprehended. This would 


4 


imply an inherent principle in all things capable 
of bringing about infinite change, but the changes 
are invariably for the advancement and as we 
comprehend the betterment of all things accord¬ 
ing to an infinite tendency and order of things. 

Such we believe to be the order of creation and 
the development of all things. 

The foregoing order and nature of things 
would seem to account for all things, including 
man, but man it would appear, although capable 
of indefinite development and improvement, 
which some have availed themselves of, whereas 
many when confronted with those things prefer 
to remain as they are, conform to lower ideals 
and in some cases, after acquiring quite a high 
standard of excellence, become degenerate. This 
does not prove anything against the general in¬ 
fluence and trend of Infinitism. 

Infinitism embraces all things, from ages gone 
by to ages yet to come. A generation, a century, 
or a notion may fail to follow the upward and 
onward dictates of Infinitism. 

The teachings of Christ were the climax in his 
day. The early disciples, actuated by the high 
order of life and living, thus influenced and en¬ 
thused humanity. Christianity since then has far 
departed from the plain, homely adherence to the 
life of duty, and to-day Christianity, although it 
holds sway over a great part of the world, has so 
lost the spirit and impetus of conformity to the 
cardinal principles of truth and righteousness 
that we find ourselves in this second decade of 
the twentieth century no farther advanced than 
many of the first century were. 

Infinitism, of course, does not make any pro¬ 
vision for the incarnation, miracles or resurrec¬ 
tion of Christ, believing Christ to be simply man, 


5 


and Would claim the prerogative of criticising 
his teachings the same as those of any other 
teacher. The climax of his teachings was per¬ 
haps “Whatsoever things ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them.” 

Sublime and holy as these general teachings 
are, still we find that as many men wish things 
which are not for their best good, some other 
standard is better, as far as they at least are 
concerned. An extreme case of one desiring for 
himself and, according to Christ’s teaching, what 
he would have conferred upon others, was to lie 
in bed with a rubber pipe attached to a barrel of 
whiskey so that he might have all the whiskey 
he wanted at all times. This, of course, is an 
extreme case of which we hope there are few, 
but it shows conclusively that what one would 
desire for himself would not be a safe rule in 
respect to what one should bestow upon another. 

Infinitism would teach what is right and proper 
and just do; but what is right and proper and 
just? some will say, and this is the great value 
and virtue of Infinitism. It believes that we are 
so much a part and parcel of all things that it 
is given to each to know what is right, each one 
for himself. This perhaps sounds too liberal, 
but one who follows it will have all he can 
attend to and will receive the greatest of recom¬ 
pense. 

Written to this point Jan. 13th, 1916. 

Although Infinitism does not wish to argue or 
contend for this or that point or question as held 
by the Christian Church, still to bring things up 
for comparison the Apostles’ Creed as an index 
of Christian belief may be compared with In¬ 
finitism. 

“I believe in God the Father Almighty.” 


6 


Infinitism teaches that there was not first of 
all an Infinite person, but believes that matter 
existed eternally and by development at last de¬ 
veloped mind, and that mind in its own develop¬ 
ment has had various conceptions of many things, 
among them the method by which things became 
and do exist. Hence various conceptions of 
things; among other conceptions a conception of 
a God. 

Infinitism has no conception of God as an 
infinite person, but would believe that there 
might at the present time exist some combination 
or bringing together of thinking which might ex¬ 
ercise some influence over the mind of the indi¬ 
vidual. Thus the highest development of mind 
is an outcome or product 'of matters. Highest 
development rather than some infinite person was 
the cause and occasion of everything— 
“Maker of heaven and earth.” 

Our conception already expressed deprives 
God of any existence, or prerogatives which 
would make such a work possible or believable. 

“And in Jesus Christ his Son our Lord.” Jesus 
Christ was born of woman as any other child is 
born, but became an exceptional man, probably 
the first to be born from above, at least the first 
so born as to, in a great measure, have some 
conception of what had happened in his own case 
and how it was brought about in himself and 
had the ability to convey that knowledge to 
others. “His ambition was to always do the will 
of his Father which was in Heaven.” In other 
words, his purpose was to do right, according 
to his convictions of duty. Some might think 
this was depriving Christ of His prerogatives. 
But to me there is no greater ideal of Christ than 


7 

that of a genuine man doing what he did as a 
man. 

“Conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the 
Virgin Mary.” Both of which were impossible. 

“Suffered under Pontius Pilate.” He most 
surely did. 

“Was crucified, dead and buried.” Certainly. 

“The third day he rose from the dead.” We 
do not believe he rose from the dead, but we do 
believe that after his death he was able to im¬ 
press himself upon the living. To what extent 
this was done or is possible is difficult to under¬ 
stand, but probably we have exaggerated reports, 
but, on the other hand, it is hard for us to com¬ 
prehend to what extent such a highly developed 
spiritual being might be able to communicate 
with those with whom he walked and talked and 
communed on such intimate terms. 

“And sitteth at the right hand of God the 
Father Almighty.” All of which is imaginary. 

“From whence he will come and judge the 
quick and the dead.” Perhaps so, but practically 
incredible. 

“I believe in the Holy Ghost.” The Holy 
Ghost is another name for the spirit or influence 
which worketh for righteousness, the main spring 
of Infinitism and of any religion which is spir¬ 
itual and has any virtue in it. 

“The Holy Catholic Church.” 

Yes, we believe in a Holy Universal Church. 
Infinitism points to a time when righteousness 
shall fill the earth, the good time coming. 

“The Communion of Saints.” Immaterial. 

“The Forgiveness of Sin.” Infinitism does 
not believe in sin as generally held or believed. 

Those things, which are natural and demanded 


8 


by our being, cannot be sins as usually termed. 
No intelligence can censure us for being in har¬ 
mony with our nature. But, on the other hand, 
Infinitism inspires, teaches and leads forever 
upward and onward to those things which ulti¬ 
mately supplant and counteract those things 
which are of less importance, natural and per¬ 
haps sensual. 

“The resurrection of the body.” Impossible 
and unnecessary. 

But this does not preclude an existence after 
death, but of that existence we have no knowl¬ 
edge and we have no particular concern. In¬ 
finitism would make the most of this life and 
stand in absolute readiness for whatever is com¬ 
ing. 

“The life everlasting.” Almost incredible, but 
still there is in Infinitism, all that there is in the 
highest development of Christianity having the 
new birth, being born from above puts us upon 
a sure footing for whatever is coming, to the best 
here, and hereafter. 

Commenced here Jan. 28th, Thursday, 9 A. M. 

There can be no modern consideration of re¬ 
ligious subjects which does not seriously and 
devoutly consider what is known as the Sermon 
on the Mount Mathew, Chapters 5-6-7. They are 
the teachings of a religious enthusiast of about 
thirty years of age. My opinion is another thirty 
years of experience and contact with the world 
would have caused him to have been more prac¬ 
tical, but in spite of our criticism, the Sermon on 
the Mount will continue in the future, as it has 
in the past, to be the never failing fountain from 
which any and all who hunger or thirst after 
righteousness may receive a satisfying portion. 

It is one of the virtues of Infinitism that it 


9 


gathers truth and beauty from every source, and 
no greater source ever existed for such supplies 
than the Sermon on the Mount. 

When we consider such things in their true 
light and appropriate such mines of truth and 
wisdom, we appreciate the fact that, whereas 
Infinitism appropriates the teachings of the Ser¬ 
mon on the Mount among other truths, Infinitism 
must still be greater than the Sermon on the 
Mount, because it prizes and respects all truth 
therein contained, plus whatever other truth may 
be acquired from other sources. 

With these considerations uppermost in our 
minds, we proceed to consider the Sermon on 
the Mount as the most sacred and sublime teach¬ 
ing ever promulgated by man, but being, as we 
believe, the teachings of a man, they are subject 
to criticism, correction and to be emphasized 
and expounded with thoughtful consideration by 
another man after two thousand years, mindful 
of the fact that I will have to do remarkably 
well to have my comments and consideration of 
these sublime truths considered or thought upon 
two years hence, to say nothing of how they will 
stand two thousand years hence. 

Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is 
the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall 
be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
the earth. 

Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall ob¬ 
tain mercy. 


10 


Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall 
be called the children of God. 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for 
righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom 
of heaven. 

Blessed are ye when men shall revile you 
and shall say all manner of evil against you 
falsely for my sake. 

Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is 
your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the 
prophets which were before you. 

Infinitism rejoices in these gracious words 
and if my whole enterprise falls short of its 
plan or ideal Infinitism will be forever grate¬ 
ful that there were such truths as the forego¬ 
ing to present, and that Infinitism in some de¬ 
gree helped bring them to the attention of some 
more people than would have known them 
were Infinitism not written. I would not infer 
that every thing written in the Beatitudes are 
beyond correction and not liable to be mis¬ 
understood, but anyone who receives and ac¬ 
cepts Infinitism as a whole would have sense 
enough to comprehend the excellence, beauty 
and sublime import of the Beatitudes just as 
they stand may they abide forever. 

Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt 
hath lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salt¬ 
ed? An ever pertinent question and if the 
salt had not lost its savor, Infinitism would never 
have been written. 

For verily I say unto you till heaven and earth 
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 
fr'om the law till all be fulfilled. 


II 


A too strong expression of confidence in the 
law. Except your righteousness shall exceed 
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees 
ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of 
Heaven. This statement is as true to-day as 
ever. 

Whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in 
danger of hell fire. This contains two terrible 
assumptions which are not true but which 
show Christ’s estimate of things, His belief in 
the sin of censure and in hell fire, which is er¬ 
roneous. 

A reconciliation between brethren make the 
offering of service to God acceptable then as 
now. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust 
after her hath committed adultery already with 
her in his heart. 

This is one of the most comprehensive of 
the over righteous conceptions of Christ. It 
might have passed two thousand years ago, 
but hardly in this day and generation when 
dress or lack of dress is so conspicuous. 

Swear not at all. Probably another ideal¬ 
istic conception but one which is far beyond 
our general experience. But how very nice it 
would be if yes and no were the rule rather 
than the exception as at present. 

That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall 
smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the 
other also. 

Very impracticable and no good can come 
from it. Perhaps it might do some good at 
some times but we can not practice it gen¬ 
erally. 


12 


Give to him that asketh of thee and from 
him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou 
away. Impractical but still a hint along the 
line of interest in humanity in general. 

Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you; do good to them that hate you and pray 
for them which dispitefully use you and persecute 
you. 

I have an idea that this is perhaps the climax 
of Christian virtues. I do not know as we can 
by so doing become children of our Father which 
is in heaven, but I do believe that such a frame 
of mind may sometimes be attained and that the 
result is very beneficial. 

How great a teacher was Jesus Christ is well 
illustrated when the foundation sermon of his 
kingdom prove so beneficial and helpful two 
thousand years after they were uttered. Read 
the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of Mathew often. 
The righteousness set forth therein is ideal and 
worthy of our endeavor. It is the same old 
righteousness which Christ preached that In- 
finitism insists upon to-day as our only hope. 
Righteousness cannot be delegated or appro¬ 
priated from one to another. 

Our own righteousness will enable us to know 
the better and higher life and give us peace of 
mind and tranquillity of spirit. Christianity, 
whatever might have been its original virtues, 
has so far deteriorated and so much stress and 
emphasis has been laid upon different features of 
it by different sects and denominations that we 
are so far away from the original teachings, and 
those original teachings were so far short of the 
truth that nothing short of radical revision, re¬ 
construction and reorganization can bring about 


*3 


that righteousness in the masses of humanity 
which will resuscitate, reclaim and rejuvenate 
humanity. 

The Ten Commandments, regardless of their 
origin, are the oldest and probably the best ex¬ 
pression of those fundamental principles which 
were early recognized by humanity. That Moses 
compiled them or originated them does not de¬ 
tract from their value. That he endeavored to 
have them accepted as coming from the hand of 
God is nothing against the Ten Commandments, 
but is a token of his foresight in trying and suc¬ 
ceeding in making many generations to believe 
them as coming directly from God. 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
This implies first a desire to get away from the 
idea of many gods and, second, to substantiate 
a belief in one God. Both of which are not 
believed by Infinitism. The one God idea was 
quite compatible with most ancient Jewish be¬ 
liefs, but when humanity became more advanced 
and had higher conceptions, we find the idea of 
God advancing and the Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit conception of three persons and one God 
was the highest conception along that line until 
the conception respecting God which is advanced 
by Infinitism which will be somewhat elucidated 
in another place. This is all I will say on this 
subject here. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 

This is an attempt to still further impress the 
idea of a God upon humanity. To what extent 
this commandment has succeeded was evident in 
Christ’s time by his injunction of Swear not at 


all, and also by our own habits of almost uni¬ 
versal profanity in our own day. 

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 

This shows one of the first movements of 
humanity toward a better condition, a condition 
which has not been realized, but is still the hope 
of humanity. 

Honor thy father and thy mother. 

Another of those fundamental things which 
has always marked the advance of humanity 
whenever and wherever any advance has been 
made. 

Thou shalt not kill. 

Wherever humanity has advanced, human life 
has become more precious, and it is a proof of 
our degenerate times both the number of mur¬ 
ders and the unprecedented number of murders 
in the great war of our present time. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

Another proof of our degenerate times when 
adultery and divorce are so prevalent and sanc¬ 
tioned by so many. Purity of life must prevail 
if Infinitism prevails. 

Thou shalt not steal. 

How about that? Does not this old law ring 
clear and true as ever? How much would be 
accomplished toward the betterment of humanity 
if honesty prevailed? There never will be much 
development from our present state until the 
word, “Let him that stole steal no more, ,, is 
obeyed. 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbor. 

Infinitism would gladly place this law upon 


T 5 


the front page of its teachings, for what robs 
humanity of its peace more than a lack of ob¬ 
servance of this rule of life. 

Thou shalt not covet. 

How often our lives are made bitter by this 
spirit. We ought to covet earnestly the best 
things. 

The true import of the giving of the law by 
Moses is brought out quite forcibly by the im¬ 
mediate context, as follows: 

And all the people saw the thunderings and 
the lightnings and the noise of the trumpets, and 
the mountain smoking, and when the people saw 
it they removed and stood afar off. 

And they said unto Moses: Speak thou with 
us and we will hear: But let not God speak with 
us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the peo¬ 
ple: Fear not, for God has come to prove you 
and that His fear may be before your faces, that 
ye sin not. And the people stood afar off and 
Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where 
God was. 

The law is none the less valuable because of 
the thick darkness where God was. But it is a 
fair sample of most of the teachings respecting 
God. They are dependent upon the thunder, 
the lightning and the thick darkness. These re¬ 
marks signify Infinitism’s regard and respect for 
the law, but I would endeavor to rob the law of 
its smoke and lightnings, which have been 
dwelt upon with the presence of the unseen and 
feared God, much to the detriment of the law 
itself. 

Any consideration of religious truth, however 
condensed, which would not take account of 
what is known as dogmatic theology or what is 
generally held, would be incomplete, and by tak- 


16 


ing these up in their regular order we will ar¬ 
rive at the truth of the matter. 

FIRST 

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

These are the Old and New Testaments. 
They were written by holy men, inspired by the 
Holy Spirit, and contain God’s revealed will to 
man. They are a sufficient and infallible guide 
in religious faith and practice. 

Such is the orthodox statement. Although 
they contain much truth and many sublime sen¬ 
timents, they were completed nearly two thou¬ 
sand years ago, and a man of equal devotion to¬ 
day should receive more ample conceptions of 
God, commensurate with his advanced develop¬ 
ment of mind and spirit. 

SECOND. 

BEING AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 

The Scriptures teach that there is only one 
true and Living God, who is a Spirit, self- 
existent, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omnis¬ 
cient, omnipotent, independent, good, wise, 
holy, just and merciful, the creator, preserver 
and governor of the universe, the Redeemer, 
Saviour, Sanctifier and Judge of men, and the 
only proper object of divine worship. 

Such is the general conception of God as 
set forth in the Scriptures. I do not believe 
any person who is an observer can agree with 
this presentation. Theologians explain that 
the mode of his existence is a subject far 
above the understanding of man. Finite be¬ 
ings can not comprehend him. There is noth- 


*7 


ing in the universe that can justly represent 
him, for there is none like him. He is the 
fountain of all perfection and happiness. He 
is glorified by the whole inanimate creation 
and is worthy to be loved and served by all 
intelligences. 

Such is the general presentation of this 
subject. But as long as it is admitted that 
it is a subject beyond the understanding of 
man, it is obvious that from their point of 
view at least any presentation of the subject 
is nothing more or less than guesswork. 

Infinitism teaches that God, if we apply 
that name, is the last and not the first, that 
as the more exalted follows after the less ex¬ 
alted thing or experience. 

God is the compilation or bringing to¬ 
gether of all spiritual beings of which the 
spiritual man is a factor or part, and as such 
has an influence upon the spiritual combina¬ 
tion and is influenced thereby. This idea ap¬ 
pears to me to be consistent and agreeable to 
the sentiment of some of the last uttered 
Scriptural expressions, such as, first that 
which is natural, afterward that which is spiritual. 

The idea of an infinite being creating 
everything, knowing everything, from the be¬ 
ginning, etc., is not only inconceivable, but 
impossible, as there must be some vehicle or 
substance by and through which even the 
Spirit must work. 

DIVINE GOVERNMENT AND PROVI¬ 
DENCE. 

God exercises a providential care and su¬ 
perintendence over all his creatures, governs 


i8 


the world in wisdom and mercy, according to 
the testimony of his word. 

God endowed man with the power of free 
choice and governs him by moral laws and 
motives, and this power of free choice is the 
exact measure of his responsibility. 

All events are present with God from ever¬ 
lasting to everlasting; but his knowledge of 
them does not in any sense cause them, nor 
does he decree all events which he knows 
will occur. 

The question naturally arises if God exer¬ 
cises care and supervision over all his crea¬ 
tures, how is it that so much is done contrary 
to all human sense of what is right and 
proper, and if finite beings see such lack of 
righteous administration infinite wisdom and 
goodness would necessitate much better ad¬ 
ministration of affairs. 

There is no such supreme being and su¬ 
preme administration. Infinitism teaches a 
universal development from the inferior to 
the superior, and whenever we see lack of 
progress and development it is a living to the 
lower ideals and conformity to lower stand¬ 
ards. Some human beings are not very high¬ 
ly developed, and none have arrived at per¬ 
fection or a point at which they do not per¬ 
ceive still higher ideals and more advanced 
positions. Infinitism provides for that su¬ 
perior life and experience of the higher life 
and the new birth, but even this is only a de¬ 
gree of life, joy and efficiency, of which there 
is no limit, and everything short of it is sim¬ 
ply a living to a lower ideal and conception 
than the possible. 


9 


CREATION. 

God created the world and all things that 
it contains for his own pleasure and glory and 
the enjoyment of his creatures. If this were 
so, then there has been a great mistake made, 
for how can a wise and good being have 
pleasure and receive to himself glory from 
the works of many men, and how do his crea¬ 
tures get enjoyment from them in many in¬ 
stances ? 

The angels were created by God to glorify 
him and obey his commandments. Those 
who have kept their first estate he employs in 
ministering blessings to the heirs of salva¬ 
tion and executing his judgments upon the 
world. I do not think that we have any re¬ 
liable proof that there is such a thing as an 
angel. God created man, consisting of a ma¬ 
terial body and a thinking, rational soul. He 
was made in the image of God to glorify his 
Maker. Man is the only judge of his origin. 
No knowledge of his origin has been given to 
him from outside of himself. Some have 
thought this thing and some that, and the 
story of a revelation from some superior and 
exterior source has been quite generally 
adopted, but it is visionary and incredible 
man is left to draw his own conclusions and 
to judge for himself. That there should be 
various ideas is but natural, but knowledge 
from outside himself and his own observa¬ 
tions are not reliable. Of course this is 
throwing away much which has been gen¬ 
erally believed as fact, but the sooner we put 
away all false theories and realize that man 
is a development and that he is the best judge 
of himself which exists and governs himself 


20 


accordingly the better it will be for him now 
and for those who are to come after him. The 
idea that man was created upright, preferring 
to do righteousness, and was tempted by an 
outside influence and fell, satan and hell are 
ingrafted into the theory to account for sin in 
the world, whereas sin is the conformity to our 
present and prevalent nature and habits rather 
than an adherence to and practice of those things 
which appeal to us as the better course of life. 
But the conformity to the lower is just as natural 
and can not legitimately imply any moral turpi¬ 
tude or sin. 

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ was 
the Son of God, born of a virgin without hu¬ 
man intervention. This is unbelievable and 
is the beginning of several fallacies: First, The 
incarnation or God becoming man. Second. 
The atonement of Christ being a means or 
reconciliation between God and man. 

Incarnations were believed in in ancient 
times, but it is hard to believe and harmonize. 
The atonement is in theory even faulty, to 
say nothing about its reality. It is said that 
there is no theory of the atonement against 
which valid objection can not be made. If 
this is true, how groundless is our faith when 
such a vital point as the atonement can not 
be held and advocated without knowing that 
we are holding and advocating as truth what 
we all know to be at least not free from being 
subject to unfavorable criticism even from 
those who believe implicitly in an atonement. 
This point, namely, that there is no theory 
respecting the atonement but which can be 
refuted and valid objections made against it, 
is what made the author of Infinitism begin 


21 


to advocate and to construct a theory against 
which no valid objection can be brought. Of 
course the atonement occupies a central place 
in the chain of links which make up the Theo¬ 
logical System as held by all Christian de¬ 
nominations alike, but, regardless of this fact, 
if it is not true, the sooner we begin to fabri¬ 
cate a theology without it the better. The old 
theology, briefly stated, would be about like 
this, which, although brief, is probably about 
as held in general: First, an infinite and 
eternal God, who is a Spirit by his word, 
created out of nothing all things and made 
man out of the dust of the earth. He was 
perfect and holy. From a rib out of man’s 
body the first woman was made. This woman 
tempted him to sin, and in view of his sin all 
of his descendants are prone to sin, and God 
seeing man’s condition, gave his Son, Jesus 
Christ, to suffer the penalty due to all sinners, 
and that said sinners accepting Christ as their 
Saviour, are accepted to favour of God, and 
are enabled to live a holy life here and are 
heirs of salvation hereafter. 

IN CONTRAST WITH THESE VIEWS. 

Infinitism teaches, first, the eternal exist¬ 
ence of matter with inherent tendencies, which 
may be called the nature of things. All 
that we see or know is the result, outcome or 
product of such matter, subjected or influ¬ 
enced by said inherent and eternal tendencies. 

Inanimate and animate nature are develop¬ 
ments along this line. Eternity furnishes 
time enough and changes ever active furnish 
the power, and the eternal aggressive, upward 
and onward trend of things furnishes the mo- 


22 


tive. It is God in nature, if we wish to use 
the word. Man is perhaps the highest de¬ 
velopment of which we have any certain 
knowledge, and the spiritual man, yielding 
still to the law and nature of his being, be¬ 
comes an ingredient or part and parcel of the 
sum total of all intelligences and makes in an 
a gg re g a te a spiritual centre or consummation 
of intelligence which we may with some de¬ 
gree of conformity to the general idea call 
God. This would make God to be the last 
and the result of all previous developments 
rather than the originator of all things. This 
climax or sum total of all intelligences is cap¬ 
able of being influenced by each factor which 
makes up the whole and in turn is able to ex¬ 
ercise an influence upon each unit of the con¬ 
solidated intelligence. There are stages and 
degrees all along the line from the lowest to 
the highst development, and Infinitism re¬ 
gards Jesus of Nazareth as the first one of 
whom we have any knowedge, who both ex¬ 
perienced the highest development and was 
able to inculcate the principles by which it 
was developed in others, and as far as we are 
able to comprehend this life of obedience to 
the highest behests of the laws of our being 
constitute the climax of our present existence. 

Christ’s statement that “I do always those 
things that are well pleasing in his sight” was 
the mainspring of his activities, and in so do¬ 
ing he set the example to all who have come 
after him. His life was so far superior to all 
of his day that he was deified by his fellow- 
ers; but, best of all, he was obeyed by them in 
that they remained together in prayer after 
his death until they received a just conception 


23 


of the higher or spiritual life and set on foot 
an impetus to life and its meaning which has 
been the ideal ever since. This ideal as ex¬ 
pressed by Christ as always doing the will of 
his Father is identical with the precept of In- 
finitism. Obey your best impressions. 
Christ might have believed in a personal God 
who communicated his will to Christ, and 
some such ideal or conception largely prevails 
at present and has in the past. But Infinit- 
ism teaches that there is in everything a law 
of its being, growth and development. Con¬ 
formity to such a law is the natural and con¬ 
sistent duty of all things. Whenever this idea 
has become prevalent in a community it has 
been productive of the greatest advancement 
to humanity. These times of refreshing re¬ 
vivals or awakenings are but the logical and 
natural result of a conformity to this side of 
life and practice. That humanity comes to a 
standstill or even retrogrades at times is not 
strange, because these ideals and better things 
which are ever present and easy to be dis¬ 
cerned as the best and most advisable thing 
to do, is almost invariably an occasion for the 
use of extraordinary acts of devotion and con¬ 
formity to some more lofty ideal than that 
which has already been attained. 

It is mainly because of ignorance in respect 
to the real nature, origin and value to these 
high ideals and impulses, and ignorance in re¬ 
spect to this great law of our being which 
allows humanity to live at so low a level. 
Again, the influence of tobacco, liquor and 
many other unnatural usages and habits de¬ 
prives man of the keen insight and relish for 
the advanced conceptions of duty and privi- 


24 . 


lege. In fact, there is so much of the abnor¬ 
mal that we have almost come to regard such 
indifference to the higher and the better things 
as our normal and natural condition and attitude 
of humanity. 

The fundamental things in Christianity and 
Infinitism are identical, namely, they both 
point to, inculcate, and, if followed, begat 
the higher life in the individual in this life or 
our earthly existence. But Christianity 
reaches this higher life by the circuitous route 
as follows: It begins with the teaching that 
man is a fallen being, that God plans his re¬ 
demption, that Christ in his death purchased 
his pardon, that man believing Christ to be 
his Saviour and accepting his atonement, is 
reconciled to God, adopted into the household 
of faith and is given of the spirit whereby he is 
directed and inspired, and if he follows said 
direction and leading he comes to the higher 
life. 

Infinitism believes man instead of being a 
fallen creature to be a rising and aggressive 
creature. His sense of what is termed sin is 
his depreciation of his present attainments in 
view of the ever-present impulse to better 
things, which, if yielded to, leads to the same 
higher life. 

Someone has said, 

True ease in writing comes from art, not 
chance, 

As those move easiest who have learned to 
dance. 

I acknowledge this evident want of ease, 
but this is a short consideration of a great 


25 


subject, the sum and substance of which is to 
obey our best impressions to do right, etc. 

This source of our sense of right may be 
termed God’s voice, conscience or the Holy 
Spirit; it matters little what it is called as 
long as it is recognized and heeded. Its first 
leadings may not diverge much from our 
usual line of operation, but if faithfully fol¬ 
lowed it will lead to a new and higher life, 
the joy and blessedness of which the individ¬ 
ual only can mark out for itself, and he only can 
appreciate its full blessing. 

There is a saying that the proof of the pud¬ 
ding is in the eating of it. Accordingly, read¬ 
er, do what is right. There is a farewell 
which we hear on every side. “Be good.” 

It is not the mission of Infinitism to form 
a new denomination or creed, but to put in 
action again that great transforming influence 
which revolutionized things in the early Chris¬ 
tian centuries. 

Some arc looking for the second coming of 
Christ. We have not yet got the import of 
his first coming, and his second coming will 
be inaugurated when the spirit which actuat¬ 
ed Christ is also the spirit which actuates hu¬ 
manity from centre to circumference, namely, 
his purpose to do always the will of his Father 
who was in heaven. 

The Father in heaven was his idea of the 
source from which his inspiration came. The 
influence of the spirit is our conception. The 
real influence for righteousness is our own in¬ 
born sense of right and righteousness, every¬ 
where existent, though often smothered out 
and neglected. There are many who realize 
the influence and recognize its importance, 


2 6 


but because there are so few who adopt this 
standard they refuse, knowing that they by so 
doing would be working at a disadvantage as 
far as temporal things are concerned. But 
this will fail to deter people from this higher 
life when it becomes a little more popular 
and better understood. Come on, boys; you 
have squandered enough time and money, and 
some of you prayers and penances, begin this 
day, and hour. Propose as this subject comes 
to your attention to do what you regard as 
right at every turn and you soon will begin to 
realize some of the realities of the higher life. 
Having proposed a manner of life and having 
personally tried it out, I have full confidence 
in its value. 

You perhaps will not succeed at all times in 
doing what you regard as the right and proper 
thing any more than I have, but you will soon 
find that a comparatively small governing by 
this rule will yield very good results, and the 
more we conform to this rule of life the more 
we will be convinced that it is The Life. 

April 5, 1916. 


FINIS. 

On December 27, 1916, I read the forego¬ 
ing and find the import and tenure of Infinit- 
ism as previously written in harmony with 
my present views. But the intervening time 
and what it has brought strengthens my belief 
in Infinitism. 

First, the great war has continued, in which 
Christian nations continue to kill and destroy 
beyond all previous record. This one thing 
shows conclusively that Christianity as held 
and practiced by the rank and file of those 


2 7 


who profess Christianity is not what its great 
teacher taught it to be. He taught us that we 
should love our enemies; he taught us that we 
should bless them that curse you and pray for 
them that despitefully use and persecute you. 
That ye may be the childen of your Father 
which is in heaven. 

The present condition of things impress 
upon us how far short we have come of appro¬ 
priating the example and exemplifying the 
great teacher’s teachings and living the great 
teacher’s life. If he wept over Jerusalem, how 
would he lament over the present prospects of 
humanity. 

How supremely sad the spectacle of hu¬ 
manity, supposing Christ to be the incarna¬ 
tion of God and his words and teachings be¬ 
ing the ultimate and last expression of the 
supreme intelligence and waiting in supine 
inaction for his second coming to correct and 
supplant and overrule. How much more rea¬ 
sonable to believe Jesus Christ as perhaps the 
first man to be born from above and he in his 
ecstacy and joy and enthusiasm to have en¬ 
thused his followers with like obedience to 
known duty, which obedience, when put in 
practice by their tarrying at Jerusalem in 
prayer until Pentecost, when they became 
likewise elated and enthused and set about 
the mission of bringing all men to this knowl- 
adge of the higher life. 

Christ did not understand it; the church for 
these many centuries has not understood it, 
but it has been granted unto me to understand 
the principle things and the main points in 
this higher life. 

We should not believe in Christ’s first com- 


28 


ing as an incarnation of God, but as a natural 
outcome of his life of obedience to duty and 
impressions made upon his own mind, and 
instead of idly waiting for his second coming 
to do great things for us, we should rather lay 
hold of the great truth of the hieher life and 
work with earnestness to bring humanity to 
its own birthright, and if it should turn out 
that Christ should come again in person, there, 
of course, would be no harm done; but if, on 
the other hand, our Lord should delay his 
coming or not come at all, as anticipated, we 
then, nevertheless, will have brought the 
world to a knowledge of the higher life 
through right and sane methods all the same. 

AGAIN. 

December 9 I attended William Sunday’s 
meeting in Boston. The 11th I wrote him to 
the effect that Jesus had come the second time 
and would begin preaching in the chapel at 
Harmony, R. I about the first Sunday in 
January, 1917. I had the letter registered and I 
received back a receipt, showing it was re¬ 
ceived by his Secretary, and that was all I re¬ 
ceived or expected. I regard Billy Sunday 
and his company as the last example of the 
old school. I was one of one thousand to go 
from Providence. There were two thousand 
from Worcester and five hundred and thou¬ 
sand lots from other places and sections of 
New England. Some fifteen thousand, more 
or less, at the afternoon meeting to see Mr. 
Sunday wave the flags of every nation of the 
earth, one after the other, in rapid succession, 
and to break with a hammer most of ten vases 
representing the ten commandments. This 


2 9 


was all right and proper, perhaps, but how 
does it all compare with Christ’s words to the 
Pharisees when they asked him when the king¬ 
dom of God should come. He said, “The 
kingdom of God cometh not with outward 
show, neither shall they say, Lo here or lo 
there, for behold the kingdom of God is 
among you.” 

If a small part of the energy used by Mr. 
Sunday in trying to impress a plain truth, but 
encumbered with many things hard to be be¬ 
lieved by some and impossible of belief by 
many, were left out, how much more natural 
and spiritual it all would be. 

We need to understand better the true im¬ 
port of the first coming of Christ, or that first 
great awakening to the fact that there was 
such a thing as being born again. 

That was what transformed men then and 
that and that only will transform them now, 
and it is just as natural as anything else in 
the whole universe. Man, of course, can not 
know of a certainty his own origin or destiny. 
As far as I know, all who write on the subject 
assume something, but it is of much impor¬ 
tance what is assumed. I will assume, and 
this first assumption seems to have some rea¬ 
son for belief from what we observe at the 
present time. 

The first is according to 1 Cor., 15-46: 
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, 
but that which is natural; and afterward that 
which is spiritual. This would lead us to as¬ 
sume that matter existed before spirit, and, in 
fact, what use could a spirit be without some 
medium or vehicle through which or by which 
it could work. I think our observation, aid- 


30 


ed by the inventions of man, reach to where 
we can almost see matter in far different con¬ 
dition than that which is nearby, and to some 
extent understood. All space might have 
been occupied by very light and even gaseous 
matter which had a nature and tendencies of 
its own. Some of its possible laws we think 
are apparent at this time, among which the 
laws of gravity, etc. 

Matter through the duration of time 
changed and solidified more and more, but 
still leaving in space previously occupied 
something after the condensation took place. 
These changes, of which we know but little 
in early times carried on in a similar way 
perhaps in our own time, chemistry, geology, 
etc., seem to teach that such changes have 
been and still are in progress. Vegetable and 
animal life were the result and outcome of the 
changes which took place before there was 
any mind to comprehend their existence. 
Man, as far as we are capable of judging, is 
the most advanced of the natural, and that 
there are so many colors and various charac¬ 
ters among men leads us to suppose that the 
changes by which man was ultimately pro¬ 
duced were general throughout many sections 
of the earth, and thus men of far different 
characteristics. 

December 28 began here. 

The origin of man is, of course, a great 
question, one that formerly has been easily 
answered by saying God created him in his 
own image, that he fell from this original con¬ 
dition, hence sin and its consequences, which 
involve other questions, some of which are 
more complicated and harder to answer than 


3 1 


the original question, From whence came 
man? 

Since my conception of his origin seems to 
fit in with what we do know respecting man 
as he is and has been as well as any, and does 
not necessitate any great contradictions, such 
as are the existence of sin, etc., it is offered for 
what it is worth until some more sensible and 
better working theory of man’s origin is 
thought out, which new and better theory I 
would be as glad to accept as any one when 
its superiority is established. There is one 
quite suggestive thing which , has recently 
come to my observation which I will mention 
even in this effort at a condensed setting forth 
of the origin and nature of things, namely, in 
the medical profession it is found some cer¬ 
tain germs of diseases which are common to 
man can be conveyed or implanted in mon¬ 
keys or apes but not into the common ani¬ 
mals which are commonly used for such ex¬ 
periments. 

I remember distinctly when a boy of 6 or 8 
years a hand-organ man came along with a 
monkey, which much interested me, and a 
cousin the same age as myself was much car¬ 
ried away with it, and I remember his saying, 
“And the poor little thing did not have any 
soul.” I suppose he was right, but perhaps his 
descendants some thousands of generations hence 
might have a soul. 

In contrast with this I wish to speak of an 
incident which is said to* have happened. A 
young man of good family was brought into 
court and one of the witnesses, an old 
aunt, said: “Judge, I want you to remember 
that he belongs to a very respectable family, and 


32 


the farther you go back the more respectable 
they are.” 

A person was once accused of being descend¬ 
ant from a horse thief and he replied, “I am 
glad you mentioned that fact, because I am proud 
of the fact that I am not a horse thief and our 
family is advancing.” 

So we see that there are straws blowing both 
ways. 

But what you ask is the reason for the sad 
spectacle of many of the nations of the earth 
in this twentieth century being at war with each 
other, and how does that compare with your 
theory of progress or evolution. No institution 
should be judged by its perversions. 

It is a hard thing to say, but still I think it 
comes pretty near the truth when we state that 
the young peoples’ societies of the various 
churches, the Salvation Army, the Y. M. C. A. 
and many of the churches have so far neglected 
the plain demands of truth and righteousness that 
the world has forgotten these plain essentials 
which are the prerequisites of the higher life and 
of being born from above. “The voice of the 
People is the voice of God,” is an old saying, and 
never more true than now. Man must again 
become awakened by the voice of conscience and 
arise to newness of life. But I am extending 
this far beyond the desired limit. 

A few words respecting the surroundings 
of the writing of Infinitism. I can look from 
my window on the third floor at the store, post 
office and Town Clerk’s office building, out across 
Greenville Pond, Slack’s Reservoir, up on to the 
hill where my grandfather’s grandfather lived 
and is buried—the second Rev. Samuel Winsor. 
He was once pastor of the First Baptist Church 


33 


in Providence, which position he left when he 
withdrew with many members and built a house 
of worship on what is now Plainfield street, 
Providence, and is next to the Catholic Church 
and is now owned by them. Said Rev. Samuel 
Winsor was a great-grandson of Roger Williams. 
I could go a few miles to where my mother’s 
mother is buried, who was a descendant from 
Chad Brown and Obediah Holmes. Thus in 
every direction I run across the final resting 
places of those who were the founders of this 
little State, where Liberty of conscience was one 
of the cornerstones of its foundation. Roger 
Williams, after organizing this First Church, is 
said to have withdrawn from it and to have 
called himself a seeker. I do not know if he 
ever found what he sought, but if he did not I 
have found it. Eureka. 

I am sitting on an oak chair which I as Master 
of Greenville Grange, No. 37 , P. and H., have 
occupied for the last two years, and which chair 
along with the regalias, charter, badges, flag 
and manuals I saved from the fire one week 
ago last Saturday at 6 P. M., and said chair at 
my request was granted to me at the last meeting 
of our Grange. 

I am boarding myself, own no land and have 
but little of this world’s goods, which, all told, 
would not bring over three hundred dollars at 
public auction. 

So much for the temporal surroundings. But 
how about the spiritual temper and surround¬ 
ings? 

First—Where did the departure from the 
regular belief begin ? 

This took place while in the Theological Semi¬ 
nary at Lewiston, Maine, 1884 to 1889 . We had 


34 


been studying the atonement and had considered 
all of the several theories and the objections 
thereto, when our instructor in conclusion said, 
as I remember it: “There is no theory of the 
atonement against which valid objections cannot 
be made. I advise you, young men, to con¬ 
struct a theory of the atonement for yourselves, 
but I warn you beforehand that you will not 
think out any theory that has not already been 
thought out and also successfully refuted.” 

My thoughts then were: If there is no theory 
of the atonement that cannot be successfully de¬ 
fended at least in theory, then there can be no 
honest theology with the doctrine of the atone¬ 
ment in it, not even in theory and much less in 
practice. And from then on to the present time 
I have for these nearly thirty years been think¬ 
ing upon this subject, comparing Spiritual things 
with Spiritual. 

From time to time I have written out some of 
my thoughts on this subject, some of which my 
wife read some years ago, and they had some 
influence probably in her compelling me to leave 
my home, which was in her name, and getting a 
divorce from me on the grounds of excessive 
cruelty and 1 failure to provide, as the newspaper 
clipping said, which was the first I knew of the 
divorce being granted, said clipping being given 
to me by one of my customers. The legality of 
the proceedings I would like to have some in¬ 
terested party some time look into, preferably 
after I am dead. Be that as it may, I had to get 
out of the house or go to jail, and I chose the 
former, which I did November 23 , 1912 . I 
bought a round trip ticket to Jacksonville, 
Florida, and started November 26 th. 

I suppose I was about as bitter as anyone very 


35 


well could be. I had a set expression of curses 
with many adjectives which I repeated continu¬ 
ally. I finally began to drop off one after an¬ 
other of the adjectives. Reasoning this way, 
that a soul could not be black, rotten, stinking 
and nasty, and again I was not so certain about 
there being a hell to which it was possible to 
consign such a soul. Be that as it may, I have 
found much consolation in conforming to my 
original formula with the adjectives left off. 

Thus was hate uppermost in my mind, until 
one certain day in answer to a simple business 
letter which could easily have been answered by 
a postal, I received a letter addressed to Rev. 
Irving Winsor, and on the back a Red Cross 
Christmas stamp. The Rev. signified respect, 
and the Red Cross stamp love. As I walked from 
the post office with that letter I became a changed 
person; tears flowed like water. I said, there 
are those who respect and love me, and came 
back January 1, 1913, and took up the burden 
of life even with a heavy heart. 

Since then hate has not predominated at least. 
But with what spirit can one write and advocate 
a doctrine. So, contrary to the generally ac¬ 
cepted ideas, “All the way to Calvary he went 
for me.” 

Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun 

Does his successive journey run. 

“His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 

Till moons shall wax and wane no more.” 

These were the two hymns with which I invol¬ 
untarily began my day’s writing on this the clos¬ 
ing lines of Infinitism. Friends, Jesus has be¬ 
come a personification of truth and righteousness, 


36 


and justly so. He was the great standard-bearer. 
He first experienced the new birth. He told 
Nicodemus more than he by study had found. 

The fact of the higher life and new birth, new 
to Jesus, thrilling his soul, was the great revela¬ 
tion of his day. 

Extravagant ideas and misconceptions on the 
part of Jesus and an unwillingness on the part 
of his followers to yield a loyal obedience to 
know duty resulted in all those sad experiences 
which terminated in the Cross. 

But Christ, by that high prerogative of a per¬ 
son bom from above, appeared to his Disciples 
after his death in a manner new then, but one 
which should be more common now than it is. 
He walked with them to Emeaus. He called for 
the Disciples and Peter; he is even said to have 
appeared to about five hundred at one time. 
Such is the prerogatives of a man born from 
above after he is relieved of his body of flesh 
and bones. Yes, when his followers, after ten 
days of prayer, were born again, all in one 
bunch, then it was the Disciples began to 
realize, as never before, the meaning of the 
talk to Nicodemus as exemplified in Christ’s 
own life. 

Here, then, is the superior teaching of In- 
finitism. The person born again or from above, 
by a life of devotion and righteousness, becomes 
a part and parcel of the spiritual kingdom of 
which Jesus Christ was the first member, our 
elder brother, and we, by conformity to the same 
rule and manner of life which he followed, come 
into the same spiritual relationship. It is not 
haphazard, it is not by profession of faith, it is 
not by the application of the blood of the Son 
of God. It is straight doing of righteousness, a 


37 


committal of one’s self to the life of being led by 
our own consciousness of what we ought to do 
that buys the transformation, and if you do not 
believe it, just try it and see for yourself. 

January i, 1917 , new pen. 

The question might be asked, What do you 
expect from the writing of Infinitism? I ex¬ 
pect just what happened when the Gospel was 
first preached by Jesus and his Disciples. It 
then revolutionized and changed humanity, In 
spite of the accompanying mysteries which are 
said to accompany its first introduction. We 
now need to dwell upon the principal thing, 
which is the same now as then and will be in the 
future, which main truth may be expressed in 
very few words, as follows: 

There exists in the normal human being a 
sense of what ought to be, which is just as surely 
a part of his nature as any other part of his 
nature, and this sense of what ought to be and 
the following out of its leadings, even in a limited 
degree, gives a reward in a sense of satisfaction 
well worth having, but when the same sense of 
what ought to be is invariably followed, it leads 
to such ecstacy in joy and peace as knows no 
limits. Such was the experience of Jesus, who 
first, as he expressed it, said, “I do always those 
things that please him.” 

It was his remarkable success along this line 
which made his superiority over us. He thought 
he was doing the will of a Father in Heaven, but 
we know he was living according to the law of 
his being. He is our elder brother, and we should 
do as he did. What a glorious example of devo¬ 
tion to duty. So much so, that he in his ecstasy, 
when nearing his end, said, “Thinkest thou that 
I cannot now pray to the Father, and he shall 


38 


presently give me more than twelve legions of 
angels.” And so much so that his followers deified 
him, and because of his appearance after his 
crucifixion, preached his resurrection, and many 
other things which have beclouded and obliterated 
the principal thing about his whole life, that it 
is necessary to rid it of many of these superfluous 
things that we may see the true import of the 
coming of Christ, namely, a conformity to duty 
as made clear to every man. During the last 
nineteen centuries Christians have to such an 
extent dwelt upon the side issues, so that the 
main thing has become one of the many debatable 
questions. 

The natural growth and development of that 
inward sense of duty has been relegated to a 
minor position, of simply obeying or not obeying 
a conscience, which if unenlightened was of 
minor importance, whereas it is the whole thing. 

Infinitism enthrones the doing of the dictates 
of conscience. Some one has said, “Right for¬ 
ever in the dungeon, wrong forever on the 
throne” can no longer be said. Right must rule, 
and its rule of righteousness and truth is the 
glad herald of the good day coming. People in 
their ignorance today are afraid to do right and 
take their chances, but the future will see right 
becoming more and more popular as its great 
blessings are more and more realized and exem¬ 
plified. “I have been young and now am old, 
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor 
his seed begging bread.” Such was David’s tes¬ 
timony. It is righteousness, not an imputed 
righteousness nor a righteousness in the future, 
but a righteousness of our own, here and now. 
Take a hand in it and see if you are not more 
than satisfied. Such is the outline of Infinitism. 


39 


We hope that this idea will fill one heart and one 
life after another until we have that righteous¬ 
ness which exalteth a nation as well as an indi¬ 
vidual. Amen. 

Written March 6 , 1917 . 

Since writing the foregoing, three different 
things have been brought to my attention which 
may consistently become a part of Infinitism and 
in fact make a little more clear the true import 
of Infinitism. First, after writing the foregoing 
I had a conversation with one of the Providence 
pastors on the subject. He said, have you writ¬ 
ten out your views on the subject. I said yes, 
but I hardly think you could read it. After¬ 
ward I found it was quite readable, and I brought 
the first writing in to him. He said he read it 
with interest and said he would buy a copy if I 
had it printed. He also made the remark that 
no one could be expected to bring out a whole 
and complete theory or plan of things. 

It is this remark of his to which I take excep¬ 
tions. I have said in another place that I did not 
claim Infinitism as complete, but that it could 
be added to or taken from as truth and knowl¬ 
edge in their advancement seemed to make neces¬ 
sary, but whereas that statement is correct, I 
still believe that the secret of Infinitism is com¬ 
plete and whole in itself and, like the law of 
gravity in the physical world, which accounts for 
many things, still has some inconsistencies. So 
Infinitism, in the spiritual and religious world, 
when once comprehended will rightly account 
for all things, and that consistently, even if, as 
in the natural, some things seem to revolve in 
the opposite direction from what would be ex¬ 
pected. It is a saying that “A few exceptions 
are needed to prove the rule.” 


4 o 


The second thing I wish to consider is the 
fact that there is much said about the second 
coming of Christ. I recognize that the introduc¬ 
tion of Infinitism and its acceptance will put on 
foot changes which will be somewhat similar to 
those which attended the coming of Christ at the 
beginning of our era. 

While considering these things in their true 
light, I was impressed by my pastor saying, 
“Christ has not come the second time; we hear 
no on esaying T am Christ/ ” 

While weighing all these things in their true 
light, and considering just what place I occupied 
and what part the teachings of Infinitism had, I 
will admit that I became much exercised. I 
seemed to see and understand things in a clearer 
light than usual. Some might say that they heard 
a voice and not very much overstate the matter. 
But it was conveyed to my mind this intelligence, 
“This is all that there ever will be to the second 
coming of Christ.” 

These two considerations of this subject are 
both recent, and from modesty or a fear of over¬ 
stating things have thus far been withheld, but 
I think that the circumstances of the case require 
that they should be known, even at the expense 
of an unsolicited prominence of your humble 
servant. 

The third and last thing which I will mention 
is a remarkable incident. Some ten or twelve 
years ago, when, for the protection of my throat, 
I allowed my beard to grow, one day while sit¬ 
ting at a table eating dinner where I at that time 
was taking some meals away from my home, the 
lady of the house, a devout Catholic lady, said 
to me, “Mr. Winsor, you look like my blessed 
Lord.” I of course was surprised, but have kept 


4i 


the saying in my mind all these years, and the 
other day I called on the lady and asked her if 
she remembered the incident, and she said, “I 
most certainly do.” 

And she went on to say that she had an ideal 
of what Christ looked like and that I reminded 
her of that ideal. 

I do not know whether Infinitism and the 
truth will be strengthened by the mention of 
these three supplementary incidents, but they 
seemed so germane to the general subject that 
I did not consider the presentation of the sub¬ 
ject complete without them, hence their insertion 
in Infinitism. 

Thus we will leave this little book with one 
large subject in a needy world. 

IRVING WINSOR. 

Greenville, R. I., March 6, 1917. 

















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